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Bake or Roast?

We bake cakes and potatoes and hams. But we roast turkey and beef and vegetables. Do you bake your chicken or roast it? Who decided that a ham is baked but a turkey is roasted? There is no difference is there? Or is there?

10 Comments:

interesting question and the only answer i can think of is that roasted chicken sounds better than baked chicken.

I thought about this very thing today as my micro/convection combo oven has "convection roast" and "convection bake." Who's to know if I use the wrong one? The oven police???

baking is for cakes and pies

My unqualified answer would be that roasting is generally done at a higher temperature than baking, but its entirely possible that I'm wrong.

ah..... i do bake a meatloaf and roast pork .... maybe the term "bake" applies to food that is somewhat prepared in some way ... "roast" might refer to an actual piece of meat? but then again why are vegetables roasted and not baked? maybe the term roasting also means applying a higher heat?

a mystery in the cooking universe, very interesting question..... can't wait to hear more observations....

I thought that roasting was (generally) used with meats, and done at higher temperatures than baking.

I'd agree withthe temperature difference; this question and comments so far made me grin, though. Case in point: a lot of 'roasted chicken' strategies/ recipes require 'roasting' the chicken at a rather low-ish temp-- as in, not four hundred plus degrees. Or at least a good portionof the cooking

Other than temperature or type of food, does it have anything to do with the type of pan being used - glass, metal; depth, etc. I think the answer is probably no, but I thought I would just put it out there.

I thought that traditionally, baking was done in an enclosed oven and roasting over a fire.

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